Waipuna Community, Youth and Child Services received funding through our Community Decarbonisation Fund for solar panels to help them reduce operating costs and meet their sustainability goals. It's just one of the 14 community groups that received funding for decarbonisation projects in 2023.
Waipuna provides wrap-around support services for vulnerable young people and parents in Christchurch.
Opening slide says Meridian Community Decarbonisation Fund on a white background with EcoMatters and Meridian logos centred at the bottom of the screen.
Upbeat guitar music begins playing.
Kath Prins, General Manager Community Youth and Child Services is sitting on a blue couch next to a yellow bunch of flowers.
Kath Prins says: Here at Waipuna Community Youth and Child Services were dictated to providing wrap around support for young people.
Footage of children jumping and playing on a playground plays as Kath’s voice over continues.
Kath Prins says: We have a preschool it's called Little Owls, it serves Christchurch East so a really vulnerable community.
We then see Kath sitting on the couch again.
Kath Prins says: The team here at Waipuna, they’re always looking for ways to work smarter,
More footage of the preschool and plays. We see a teacher sitting with a child outside in the sun, a teacher baking with young children and then putting scones into the oven. Kath’s voice over continues to play.
Kath Prins says: if we can save on operating costs that means we can put more money back into our young people and we've also been looking for a way to contribute to doing our bit for the environment, but we just never had the budget for it. Thanks to Meridian’s Community Decarbonisation Fund
The video then pans to drone footage of the solar installation as Kath’s voice over continues to play.
Kath Prins says: we've installed 60 solar panels on the Waipuna building and this has meant that we can free up some of those operating costs and put more back into our young people.
The video goes back to Kath sitting on the couch.
Kath Prins says: It's been a win win.
The video finishes.
Increased demand and an already tight operating budget mean the team are always looking for ways to reduce their overheads. Kath Prins, General Manager Community Youth and Child Services says "If we can save on operating costs that means we can put more money back into our young people and we've also been looking for a way to contribute to doing our bit for the environment, but we just never had the budget for it. Thanks to Meridian’s Community Decarbonisation Fund we've installed 60 solar panels on the Waipuna building and this has meant that we can free up some of those operating costs and put more back into our young people."
The Community Decarbonisation Fund is all thanks to our partnership with our Certified Renewable Energy (Certified) customers.
Certified enables our business customers to match the amount of electricity they use, with an equivalent amount of electricity put into the national grid from one of our hydro stations or wind farms – which have been independently verified as producing 100% renewable electricity.
All of the net proceeds from the Certified product are used to support electrification projects across Aotearoa. Together, with our Certified customers, we’ve provided more than $1 million in funding for grassroots community projects that reduce carbon emissions and provide a tangible positive impact for many community groups.
Learn more about community organisations and the projects that have received funding from the Community Decarbonisation Fund.
Community Decarbonisation Fund
EcoMatters is driving sustainability forward by swapping their diesel van out for an electric one.
KidsCan are installing an EV charging station and replacing two of their fleet vehicles with electric vehicles.
South Island Rowing are installing solar panels to cover part of their power usage.